1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to immunoglobulins to which one or more pharmacologically active chemical moieties can be conjugated for improved pharmacokinetic characteristics.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
A “carrier” moiety refers to a pharmacologically inactive molecule to which a pharmacologically active chemical moiety, such as a non-peptide organic moiety (i.e., “small molecule”) or a polypeptide agent (e.g., the inventive immunoglublins), can be covalently conjugated or fused. Effective carriers have been sought to prevent or mitigate in vivo degradation of pharmacologically active moieties by proteolysis or other in vivo activity-diminishing chemical modifications of the pharmacologically active chemical moiety, or to reduce renal clearance, to enhance in vivo half-life or other pharmacokinetic properties of a therapeutic, such as increasing the rate of absorption, reducing toxicity or immunogenicity, improving solubility, and/or increasing manufacturability or storage stability, compared to an unconjugated form of the pharmacologically active moiety.
Examples of such carrier moieties that have been employed in the pharmaceutical industry include polyethylene glycol (see, e.g., Burg et al., Erythropoietin conjugates with polyethylene glycol, WO 01/02017), immunoglobulin Fc domain (see, e.g., Feige et al., Modified peptides as therapeutic agents, U.S. Pat. No. 6,660,843), human serum albumin (see, e.g., Rosen et al., Albumin fusion proteins, U.S. Pat. No. 6,926,898 and US 2005/0054051; Bridon et al., Protection of endogenous therapeutic peptides from peptidase activity through conjugation to blood components, U.S. Pat. No. 6,887,470), transthyretin (see, e.g., Walker et al., Use of transthyretin peptide/protein fusions to increase the serum half-life of pharmacologically active peptides/proteins, US 2003/0195154 A1; 2003/0191056 A1), or thyroxine-binding globulin, or a combination such as immunoglobulin (light chain+heavy chain) and Fc domain (the heterotrimeric combination a so-called “hemibody”), for example as described in Sullivan et al., Toxin Peptide Therapeutic Agents, PCT/US2007/022831, published as WO 2008/088422. Pharmacologically active moieties have also been conjugated to a peptide or small molecule that has an affinity for a long half-life serum protein. (See, e.g., Blaney et al., Method and compositions for increasing the serum half-life of pharmacologically active agents by binding to transthyretin-selective ligands, U.S. Pat. No. 5,714,142; Sato et al., Serum albumin binding moieties, US 2003/0069395 A1; Jones et al., Pharmaceutical active conjugates, U.S. Pat. No. 6,342,225).
Fischer et al. described a peptide-immunoglobulin-conjugate, in which the immunoglobulin consisted of two heavy chains or two heavy chains and two light chains, in which the immunoglobulin was not a functionable immunoglobulin (Fischer et al., A peptide-immunoglobulin conjugate, WO 2007/045463 A1).
The present invention provides immunoglobulins yielding exceptional uniformity and efficiency of recombinant expression, in vitro stability and non-aggregation, resistance to photodegradation and oxidation, non-cross-reactivity with human antigens, and good pharmacokinetic properties.